Speaking with IGN at GDC 2014 last week, Spencer said while the game is almost ready, ultimately the release date is up to Mojang and 4J Studios.

“I talked to 4J Studios last night,” Spencer said. “They feel really good about the progress that they’re making. It’s their game, and it’d be Mojang’s game. We graciously host it on our platform.

“But unlike on 360 where they had never been on console before and the developer relationship, I’ll say, was very tight from the beginning, this is something that’s really in their hands now.

“They’re a full-fledged developer in every sense. They control the release date of that, but I’ll tell people that we’re getting really close. I talked with Notch last night, and they’re really excited about the quality.”

Minecraft: Xbox One Edition was announced during E3 2013.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/28/minecraft-xbox-one-edition-getting-really-close-to-being-finished-says-spencer/feed/1Minecraft Oculus was going to be free, Notch responds to CliffyB’s defence of Facebook dealhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/03/28/minecraft-oculus-was-going-to-be-free-notch-responds-to-cliffybs-defence-of-facebook-deal/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/28/minecraft-oculus-was-going-to-be-free-notch-responds-to-cliffybs-defence-of-facebook-deal/#commentsFri, 28 Mar 2014 10:47:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=460599Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has responded to a heated blog post from Cliff Bleszinski writen in defence of Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR. It follows Persson’s decision to cancel the Oculus version of his popular creation title.

“Your device is only as good as the store and community around it,” Bleszinski said in his post, “if users can’t say shut up and take my money, if developers can’t post their work then the device will ultimately flounder. Facebook can assist with this sort of thing, as well as having a multi billion user reach.”

On Notch’s decision, the former Gears of War designer added, “p.s. Notch, your cancelling Minecraft makes you look like a pouty kid who is taking his ball and going home. It’s a bratty and petty move and it saddens me greatly.”

Persson took to Twitter to refute Bleszinski’s statement:

CliffyB, one of the investors in Oculus, calls me a "pouty kid" for cancelling the Minecraft thing. Damn straight I am.

The pair have since cooled their jets and are most likely the best of friends again. Maybe.

Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey also called out Persson’s decision however, stating, “He had the Rift for a year and had not even tried the Minecraft mod (which is really good), much less done any exploration work. I think Notch is a super cool guy, but it is really easy to ‘cancel’ a project that was never started as an out.”

Responding to Luckey’s claim on Kotaku, Notch said that he had built a few Oculus Rift prototypes and that Mojang was working on the game proper, which he confirmed would have been called Minecraft VR Edition.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/28/minecraft-oculus-was-going-to-be-free-notch-responds-to-cliffybs-defence-of-facebook-deal/feed/41Behind the scenes at Mojang: the birth and abrupt end to Minecraft follow-up 0x10chttp://www.vg247.com/2014/02/13/behind-the-scenes-at-mojang-the-birth-and-abrupt-end-to-minecraft-follow-up-0x10c/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/13/behind-the-scenes-at-mojang-the-birth-and-abrupt-end-to-minecraft-follow-up-0x10c/#commentsThu, 13 Feb 2014 12:56:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=448171In this exclusive excerpt from his book A Year With Minecraft: Behind the Scenes at Mojang, Thomas Arnoth details the beginning and abrupt end to Notch’s “difficult second album.”

Look, I made a mistake

There is another universe parallel to ours, one where the space race never ended. In fact, space exploration once was so accessible that it became popular with wealthy companies and individuals. But in 1988, something went horribly wrong. A new type of cell for deep sleep was released, a cell compatible with every 16-bit computer.

Unfortunately, there was a design flaw with the computers controlling the sleeping cells, a flaw that made everyone in the cells sleep until the year 281 474 976 712 644. When people then slowly started waking up, they awoke to a universe on the brink of extinction, a universe where the black holes were many and energy scarce. This is the set up for 0x10c, Markus Persson’s new creation that was made public in March 2012. The actual sequel to Minecraft. Or as Jakob [Porser, Mojang co-founder] put it: “The difficult second album.”

“I think he was hit by a late hangover from Minecraft” – Carl Manneh, Mojang CEO

In the beginning, Markus did not reveal exactly how 0x10c should be pronounced; people had to figure it out themselves. But of course, it did not take more than a few minutes before someone came up with an answer. It turned out that the mathematical formula it represents can be pronounced something like “ten to the see.” The number also has its own name, Trillek. But it seemed to be “ten to the see” that stuck, at least at Mojang’s office. I have heard Jakob say “Trillek” and Patrick [Geuder, business development] “zero x ten c,” but other than that they all referred to it as “ten to the see.” Markus himself claimed that you could call it whatever you like.

The explanation to the title is as following: 0x10c is a mathematical formula, which makes no sense to me, that programmed the cell to keep people sleeping until the year 281 474 976 712 644.

Simply put, in this game Markus was to move from labors of the earth, to labors in space. If you know the history of video games, it is yet again not a surprising step; science fiction has long had a prominent place in the gaming world. “It is a space game with space fights, simply because it is ‘pew pew fun,’” Markus said in an interview with the website Penny Arcade.

To me, he elaborates a bit: “I did not come up with the idea because I’m that much in to sci-fi, because I’m not. To me it is more about science; I am fascinated by space from that point of view. Then I also like the concept of being alone in a gaming world, as you are in Minecraft too, unless you go online of course. And how much more lonely can you get than being in space?”

For the first months, Markus was blogging and tweeting about it. He said that we will be able to build our own spaceships and that the ships would have 16-bit computers onboard that we will be able to program ourselves (and, scarily enough, the computers will also be affected by viruses, and the players will have to repair it themselves). Specifications for the programmable computer were soon published, and you can still read them yourself at the website 0x10c.com, if you want to sit down and work on programs or games for it already. Other things the game promised to include are hard science fiction, abandoned ships full of loot, an advanced financial system and duct tape.

Mojang’s Jens Bergensten and Vu Bui.

“But I have given up on hard science, I think. In real life, a normal person can only jump, like, 12 inches, and that is not very fun in a game. I also tried to take away gravity, then you could jump longer but all goes very slow. Not very fun either. So the hard science bit has had to get a little looser.”

However you look at it, it is in every way an enormous project that Markus undertook.

“I had several ideas I was working on, a few smaller and one big. The big idea was the space game. But in the end I thought that I might just as well take on the big one,” he says. But he quickly adds: “It’s on the other hand so big that I’ll probably have time to work on the small ones in between.”

However, Markus’s work on 0x10c quickly began to decrease and during the summer of 2012 he stopped working on it completely.

“I think he was hit by a late hangover from Minecraft,” said Carl Manneh after the summer.

In addition, Markus and his wife Elin, whom he also met at King, separated. They had been married for a year. Such things take a toll, even though it appears as if he and Elin continued to be good friends.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/13/behind-the-scenes-at-mojang-the-birth-and-abrupt-end-to-minecraft-follow-up-0x10c/feed/6Minecraft creator Notch appears on US chat show, watch him herehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/11/08/minecraft-creator-notch-appears-on-us-chat-show-watch-him-here/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/08/minecraft-creator-notch-appears-on-us-chat-show-watch-him-here/#commentsFri, 08 Nov 2013 12:26:05 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=424798Minecraft creator and Mojang founder Notch appeared on The Late Late Show in the US last night. Watch his interview with host Craig Ferguson here.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/08/minecraft-creator-notch-appears-on-us-chat-show-watch-him-here/feed/9Mojang appoints new vice president, with a twisthttp://www.vg247.com/2013/10/03/mojang-appoints-new-vice-president/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/03/mojang-appoints-new-vice-president/#commentsThu, 03 Oct 2013 08:30:12 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=414220Mojang founder Markus ‘Notch’ Persson typically hires his own superiors, but the hiring of the company’s new vice president comes with something of an odd twist.

CEO Carl Manneh said in a statement on the matter, “A few months back I had a casual conversation in the office kitchen talking about the insane amount of things going on at Mojang. I said something in the lines of ‘I wish I could clone myself’. I remember Tobias mumbling something like ‘I’ll look into that’.

“Yesterday Tobias came back to me and said he had something to show me. Introducing Mojang’s new Vice President: Jonas Martensson! Sometimes it’s just nice to be able to clone yourself… or hire your twin brother.”

Here’s a picture of Manneh and Martensson side by side. It’s weird.

Writing on his new Twitter account, Martensson said, “Extremely impressed by the talent at Mojang and what @notch has created. This will be fun.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/03/mojang-appoints-new-vice-president/feed/1Minecraft coming to PS4 at launch, also announced for PS3 and Vitahttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/20/minecraft-coming-to-ps4-at-launch/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/20/minecraft-coming-to-ps4-at-launch/#commentsTue, 20 Aug 2013 18:24:14 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=400127Minecraft is coming to PS4 at the console’s launch. Sony announced that Mojang’s money-spinner is coming to the format in time for the console’s launch. The firm said it was one of the most requested games ever from the PlayStation community, and now it looks as though they are finally getting their wish. Once more information becomes available, we’ll update you, but for now, that’s all that’s known as of post time. Notch mentioned on Twitter it would also release on PS3 and Vita.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/20/minecraft-coming-to-ps4-at-launch/feed/24Xbox One: Notch feels it’s a “wonderful idea” for the box to be turned into a devkithttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/26/xbox-one-notch-feels-its-a-wonderful-idea-for-the-box-to-be-turned-into-a-devkit/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/26/xbox-one-notch-feels-its-a-wonderful-idea-for-the-box-to-be-turned-into-a-devkit/#commentsFri, 26 Jul 2013 16:28:13 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=392476Mojang’s Markus ‘Notch’ Persson thinks it’s a grand idea on Microsoft’s part to allow for Xbox One consoles to be turned into devkits.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea to have the actual box be the dev kits,” he said. “This makes it easier for both the developer and for Microsoft, and presumably they could make it a lot cheaper since they’d only sell unlock codes.

“I realize there are other factors at play here, though, like a perceived need to make sure only ‘legitimate’ developers get access to it, so a monetary barrier might still be in place.”

The term is used to describe a generation of academics who have grown up so immersed in modern technology that they don’t need to be taught how to use it. Their practical understand comes naturally via their environment, much like children learn how to speak by hearing their parents talk.

Back when I was in high school they held classes to teach us how to use the internet, the best way to effectively use search engines, and how to send an email. I’m deadly serious. These things were new, a total mystery.

Over the course of a few years, our understanding of the internet grew, and our lives became more convenient and much faster as a result. It’s hard to go back there, to think about life before the internet, and it’s weird to think that my generation was the last to be born in the days before its existence.

One of the tools we given to help our understanding of the digital world was a touch typing program called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Released in 1987 by The Software Toolworks, it was a simple yet fun way to make learning fun, and while at high school I became utterly addicted to it.

The Mavis Beacon series is regularly updated today with more sophisticated games, but during my school days it was fairly basic. My favourite exercise saw you controlling a sports car as it blazed a trail down a desert highway. You had to keep the vehicle’s speed up by typing along with a scrolling line of text.

If you stumbled, the car would slow down and you’d start to fall behind the ever-ticking clock. The never-ending race dug its hooks into me and refused to let go. Over time typing at high speed became hypnotic, almost in the way Guitar Hero players enter a trance-like state of symbiosis when they perform Dragonforce’s ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ on expert.

Although Mavis Beacon might sound incredibly dull, it was actually a wonderful thing back then. There we were, the first wave of academics being taught how to use the information super highway effectively and to become proficient typists. It was an exciting time, and many of us owe our word-per-minute ratio to the game’s allure.

I decided to write this article after I tried Drop, a simple typing game from Minecraft creator Notch. The weird thing is, I type for a living and if you read VG247 regularly you’ll know just how many articles we pump out in a day. We have to type fast or we fall behind the news, but Drop is a true lesson in pain.

Take a minute or two to give Drop a try here. It’s insanely fast, but just like Mavis Beacon or Guitar Hero you really do enter an almost trance-like state as the letters curl around the screen and assault your eyes. It’s a stressful, psychedelic game based around a mundane act we do everyday at our jobs, or when using our phones to text a friend.

Yet it’s horribly addictive, and I think it’s a real feat to take something that is now so natural and turn into something so enjoyable and challenging. Typing is – for many of us – a similarly essential part of everyday living, just like our ability to take a breath or walk, but I imagine that if Microsoft or Sony released a game about either they wouldn’t be half as enjoyable.

Which brings me neatly to The Typing of the Dead, which I’m sure many of you already know. Developed by Smilebit and released across Japanese arcades in 1999 and for Sega Dreamcast in 2001, the game is essentially a mash-up of Mavis Beacon typing games and The House of the Dead 2. The concept is bonkers, but no less enjoyable.

In fact, it has become a curio title among collector circles, and at the time of writing is commanding anywhere between $10-$100 on eBay, depending on quality and if the Dreamcast keyboard is bundled or not. In it, you must type words on the screen to shoot approaching zombies and abominations before they get close enough to attack.

Couple the stress of typing words and phrases at speed, with the sight of advancing zombie bastards and you once again have a touch typing game that burrows under your skin and refuses to eject. It’s silly, challenging and downright bizarre, but once again it’s education disguised as play, which isn’t an easy thing to achieve.

The last game I wanted to touch on is a strange typing game that taps into today’s generation of ‘texters’. Just like my generation had grown up in the days before the internet, we also lived in a world without mobile phones, which is also slightly mind-boggling to recall.

But now today’s Digital Natives know how to use mobile phones naturally, and many of them own one at a very young age. This would have been unthinkable back when I was a child. What’s strange is that I can type at lightning speed thanks to my early exposure to the Mavis Beacon series, but when it comes to texting I’m a clumsy oaf.

The Typing of the Dead is odd
but both daft and a lot of fun.
Thanks thebbps.

When I play Screwattack’s iOS game Texting of the Bread I start to feel my age, and I’m only 29. You play as a girl scout who fires a milk cannon at an invading army of cookie monsters and gingerbread men.

You fire by texting words at speed on your phone or tablet. I’m terrible at it, like, really awful, but I suspect people younger than me are much better. Either way that same old thing happen when I play, where my eyes become glued to the screen, I rarely blink and my hands dance rapidly over my iPad’s touch screen.

So even though I don’t feel like a Digital Native when I play the game, It’s still a great way of making something ordinary feel fresh and most importantly, fun. All of the games listed above share similar gameplay mechanics, but I feel there’s scope for some new ways of incorporating touch typing skills into game today. That’s not for me decide of course.

I’ll leave you with a strange image of Texting of the Bread below, and please do share any memories you have of touch typing games you’ve played before, or of your life before the internet became a vital part of it in the comment box.

WTF indeed…

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/03/exploring-the-magnetic-appeal-of-typing-games/feed/2Sony invites Notch to its E3 event by giving him a golden PSonehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/05/27/sony-invites-notch-to-its-e3-event-by-giving-him-a-golden-psone/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/27/sony-invites-notch-to-its-e3-event-by-giving-him-a-golden-psone/#commentsMon, 27 May 2013 14:54:09 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=370871Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, has received a rather classy VIP invitation to Sony’s E3 press conference: a golden PSone console.

Although Minecraft has been released only for XBLA as far as console releases are concerned, selling well over 6 million copies on the network; it’s well known that he’s not too fond of Microsoft’s practices. He even tweeted about how unexcited he was by the Xbox One reveal stating that he “wanted a game console, not a voice and gesture based tv remote box.”

The invitation surely makes things interesting as Sony might be looking to woo him over to develop something for the PlayStation 4.

But we’ll have to wait until E3 to know for sure what the publisher plans to do by inviting him to its event.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/27/sony-invites-notch-to-its-e3-event-by-giving-him-a-golden-psone/feed/47Minecraft creator currently world’s second most-influential person in Time’s 100 pollhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/mincraft-creator-currently-worlds-second-most-influential-person-in-times-100-poll/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/mincraft-creator-currently-worlds-second-most-influential-person-in-times-100-poll/#commentsFri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:52 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=357861Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson is currently ranked as the second most-influential person in the world in this year’s Time 100 Poll. Voting is still open if you want to throw your own hat in the ring.

The poll is currently being voted for by readers and the final list will champion the world’s most iconic figures across the arts, politics, science and other walks of life.

Notch is currently placed second behind Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, and voting ends today. The final list will be published in the magazine and online April 18.

Have a look at the poll above and let us know if you think Notch deserves a spot on the final list.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/mincraft-creator-currently-worlds-second-most-influential-person-in-times-100-poll/feed/11Age of Wonders 3 pre-alpha gameplay vid has combat in ithttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/27/age-of-wonders-3-pre-alpha-gameplay-vid-has-combat-in-it/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/27/age-of-wonders-3-pre-alpha-gameplay-vid-has-combat-in-it/#commentsWed, 27 Mar 2013 21:08:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=353453The funded-by-Notch turn-based strategy RPG sequel Age of Wonders III saw the light of day at GDC today in the form of some pre-alpha gameplay footage.

Age of Wonders II is on track for release this year on the PC, probably a while from now if we’re just now looking at pre-alpha gameplay.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/27/age-of-wonders-3-pre-alpha-gameplay-vid-has-combat-in-it/feed/20x10c: Notch working on ship editor, game not being shown at Mineconhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/21/0x10c-notch-working-on-ship-editor-game-not-being-shown-at-minecon/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/21/0x10c-notch-working-on-ship-editor-game-not-being-shown-at-minecon/#commentsWed, 21 Nov 2012 11:04:38 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=3177380x10c creator Notch has revealed that he is working on a ship editor for his mind-bending space game, and has also downplayed the game’s appearance at Minecon following a slip-up on Twitter.

Shortly after the announcement, Notch back-peddled and said that the Minecon news was a typo, and that the game will not be shown at the event. He added, “There’s no way this will be finished in time, especially considering how inefficient my panic coding is.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/21/0x10c-notch-working-on-ship-editor-game-not-being-shown-at-minecon/feed/00x10c being streamed live on Twitch TV by Notchhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/25/0x10c-being-streamed-live-on-twitch-tv-by-notch/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/25/0x10c-being-streamed-live-on-twitch-tv-by-notch/#commentsThu, 25 Oct 2012 13:25:38 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=3103300x10c is being streamed live on Twitch TV by Notch, who is testing out the multiplayer in his sandbox game. Watch it here.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/25/0x10c-being-streamed-live-on-twitch-tv-by-notch/feed/2New 0x10c footage released, gameplay detailedhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/12/new-0x10c-footage-released-gameplay-detailed/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/12/new-0x10c-footage-released-gameplay-detailed/#commentsFri, 12 Oct 2012 18:58:59 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=306676New 0x10c footage has been released by Notch, and according to the game maker, he wants the game to feel a bit like Firefly.

“The goal is to have it feel a bit like Firefly,” he said. “You can try to land on a planet but you mess up and, instead of having the ship just explode like it would in real life, the landing gear gets broken. Then you have to try to fix that by finding resources.

“Instead of the adventure being flying from here to here, it’s: I set the destination, oh god I hit a small asteroid and the cloaking device broke. I think they really nailed that kind of emergent aspect in FTL. ”

Tobias Möllstam, one of the developers on the game said: “I’d really like for stuff to go wrong, but I think we’ve managed to establish a philosophy where things can go wrong and we’re not going to judge too much. Like you run something at 120% and catches fire, but you just about make it. It’s kind of cheesey but I like it. Having a programmable and customizable ship means that there’s a lot more investment, and the game should reflect that and allow you to have it for a long time.”

Notch said he is “trying to design the game so you don’t have to know programming,” but you can share the code.

“If you have a friend who’s made this really awesome docking algorithm, you can put that on a floppy disk within the game and put that into your computer.”

At this point in development the game isn’t multiplayer, as he team is just “trying to figure out the actual mechanics for it.”

“With Minecraft I waited too long to add multiplayer, so that was a huge hassle,” said Notch. “So now, as soon as it’s fun, I’m going to do the multiplayer. But nothing in the game is fun right now. I need to figure out what is actually a fun game mechanic in all of this.”

Learn more about 0x10c through the link.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/12/new-0x10c-footage-released-gameplay-detailed/feed/13Minecraft creators Mojang nominated for ‘best-looking office’ award, no reallyhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/02/minecraft-creators-mojang-nominated-for-best-looking-office-award-no-really/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/02/minecraft-creators-mojang-nominated-for-best-looking-office-award-no-really/#commentsTue, 02 Oct 2012 09:07:18 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=302557Mojang is probably used to being nominated for awards and receiving praise by now, but this one is verging on the ludicrous. The Minecraft developer has been nominated for an award that recognises the best-looking office spaces in Sweden.

MCV reports that the ‘Sveriges snyggaste kontor 2012’ award champions the best-looking office spaces in the country, and that voting is open now. Winners get a piece of art to hang in their office, while second place bags a fish tank.

Here’s what Mojang’s working space looks like:

You can check out the official nominee page here, and check out some images of Mojang’s office. THose couches look nice don’t they?

Despite only having one released title, the Swedish studio made a profit of around 60 million SEK, which is almost 7.2 million Euro.

Other released information relates to Minecraft Xbox 360, which sells around 17,000 copies a day.

Last year, proceeds from Minecraft went to its creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, but now it all goes back into Mojang, which is current developing card game scrolls, and the shooter Cobalt.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/08/minecraft-xbox-360-sells-17000-copies-a-day-majong-doubles-profits/feed/0Notch: ‘Minecraft mod used to threaten my vision’ – Minecraft creator speakshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/08/01/notch-minecraft-mod-used-to-threaten-my-vision-minecraft-creator-speaks/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/01/notch-minecraft-mod-used-to-threaten-my-vision-minecraft-creator-speaks/#commentsWed, 01 Aug 2012 08:29:32 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=281429Minecraft creator, Markus “Notch” Persson took to Reddit last night to take part in an ‘Ask me anything’ Q&A session with fans, revealing the developers thoughts on the modding community and the prospect of future updates.

Notch was asked what he thought of the Minecraft Coder Pack mod, a toolkit that essentially lets players de-construct Notch’s game and shape it with their own code and mods.

The Minecraft creator replied, “Personally, I used to feel threatened by it as I felt it challenged my “vision,” but on the other hand, I also know how wonderful mods are for games. We decided to just let it happen, and I’m very happy we did. Mods are a huge reason of what Minecraft is.”

But Notch is no longer fearful of others cashing in on Minecraft’s success, or using the game for their own projects. In fact, he’s completely behind this community.

“It all kind of emerged organically”, Notch explained, “There’s probably a lot more we could do to support it more, so we’ll probably look more into that in the future. We’ve recently started partnering up with cool iOS apps by giving them more exposure and letting them brand themselves “official” in exchange for bags of money.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/01/notch-minecraft-mod-used-to-threaten-my-vision-minecraft-creator-speaks/feed/2Hyperplayer Mode in 0x10c teased by Notchhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/05/10/hyperplayer-mode-in-0x10c-teased-by-notch/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/10/hyperplayer-mode-in-0x10c-teased-by-notch/#commentsThu, 10 May 2012 20:45:00 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=257898Notch has teased something called Hyperplayer Mode in 0x10c, his latest title currently in development. The mode is listed above the multiplayer and single-player options in the game’s title screen. The image, posted through here was tweeted by Notch along with: “Niiiice, the title screen uses the unified rendering and lighting code now!” Whatever that means. We’re developmentally challenged. Take that for what it means or with ambiguous connotations. We don’t really care either way. Not much is known about the game so far, only that it takes place in the future inside a parallel universe where players will participate in space battles, mining, trading, and looting. Thanks, GameSpy.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/10/hyperplayer-mode-in-0x10c-teased-by-notch/feed/2Teaser for Notch’s 0x10c space sim releasedhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/04/19/teaser-for-notchs-0x10c-space-sim-released/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/19/teaser-for-notchs-0x10c-space-sim-released/#commentsThu, 19 Apr 2012 16:51:32 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=252360A teaser video for Notch’s 0x10c space sim is below. The developer said the title is still “extremely early in development,” but like with Minecraft, Mojang expects to release it early to allow the players help “shape the game as it grows.” The title’s cost is still undecided, but “it’s likely there will be a monthly fee for joining the Multiverse,” as the team plans to “emulate all computers and physics even when players aren’t logged in.” The single-player portion won’t be saddled with any recurring fees. Thanks, EvilAvatar.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/19/teaser-for-notchs-0x10c-space-sim-released/feed/10Minecraft’s Notch working on “space adventure game”http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/18/minecrafts-notch-working-on-space-adventure-game/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/18/minecrafts-notch-working-on-space-adventure-game/#commentsSun, 18 Mar 2012 08:40:51 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=244259Minecraft creator and BAFTA winner Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has told the BBC he’s currently working on a “space game,” a project which he intends to start work on in seriousness this summer.

Speaking in a BBC interview this weekend after picking up a BAFTA Special Award in London, Persson said: “I think I’m going to make a space game, where you’re a guy on a spaceship and you have adventures in space.”

He was responding to a question about where his work will take him next. He stood down as Minecraft’s lead in December last year.

Persson confirmed in a VG247 interview immediately after picking up his BAFTA that he currently has three prototypes running and will start in earnest on his next game this summer.

Watch the BBC interview below. It’s rough quality, but you can see him talk about the space title at 3.00.

Speaking to Gamespy, Markus “Notch” Persson said he approves of the growing field of competition in the digital distribution space.

“I think it’s a bit dangerous to only have one digital distribution platform like Steam. I love Valve, but out of principle, I find the idea of one platform a bit scary,” he said.

“So I like that there are others competing – for example, Desura and Impulse, who recently got bought by GameStop. It’s a good thing that there are more.”

EA’s rival offering Origin is a pet hate for much of the same crowd which hero worships Perrson and other indie developers, but the Minecraft creator didn’t have anything too damning to say about it.

“Origin does a couple things badly compared to Steam – which is impressive since they had eight years to study Steam. They should definitely have a chance to do their thing, but they might want to move away from titles that make people use it and show people why they should use it,” he said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/16/notch-digital-distribution-monopoly-a-bit-dangerous/feed/7Notch: Psychonauts 2 won’t happen for “a while”http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/13/notch-psychonauts-2-wont-happen-for-a-while/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/13/notch-psychonauts-2-wont-happen-for-a-while/#commentsTue, 13 Mar 2012 18:50:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=242474Markus “Notch” Persson has said it will be a while before Tim Schafer will have the time to begin work on Psychonauts 2.

Speaking with Gamespy, Notch said he and Schafer met at GDC where the Double Fine man told him the studio had “a lot to do for a while.”

Notch also added that if Double Fine wants to do the game and the “numbers are reasonable,” he would love to do it providing there’s a “return on the investment and stuff.”

“I think Psychnoauts 1 did surprisingly poorly in sales, which is bizarre,” he said. “Sure, it’s kinda niche, but it has huge personality and only one bad level: the meat circus. So I think there’s definitely room for a Psychonauts 2 to sell well. Especially now, because you could treat as not necessarily a triple-A project.

“I mean, you can’t make it too small scale, because it needs to top the first one.”

It has been estimated that a full blown, proper sequel could cost around the $13 million mark.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/13/notch-psychonauts-2-wont-happen-for-a-while/feed/6Mojang and Bethesda reach an agreement over use of Scrollshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/03/10/mojang-and-bethesda-reach-an-agreement-on-scrolls/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/10/mojang-and-bethesda-reach-an-agreement-on-scrolls/#commentsSat, 10 Mar 2012 18:20:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=241569Markus “Notch” Persson has taken to Twitter to announce Mojang and ZeniMax, have reached an agreement over the use of the title Scrolls.

“The settlement is that we give them the trademark, get to keep the name, and won’t make an elder scrolls competitor using the name,” read the tweet.

Notch further stated “damages” weren’t needed to be paid and comically added that: “The actual document I signed was like a billion pages, so at least we know a bunch of lawyers got rich. Good, wouldn’t want them to starve.”

Back in October, Mojang was handed an interim injunction from the courts in order to keep using the Scrolls title until all was settled, following a legal dispute over the summer after the firm received a letter from ZeniMax lawyers claiming the public might eventually confuse the game with a title from The Elder Scrolls series.

At the time, Notch chalked the letter up to “lawyers being lawyers.”

During September, it was announced the issue would go to court despite Notch offering to give up the Scrolls trademark and change the name -a move ZeniMax refused.

Seems all squabbling is over now, though.

Mojang’s aiming for a multiplatform release with the card-trading battle game, but it’s confirmed only for the PC so far.

The game is being built on the Unity engine, which supports Android, Flash, iOS, PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Scrolls is expected in 2012 and will have some free-to-play features.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/10/mojang-and-bethesda-reach-an-agreement-on-scrolls/feed/8Minecraft hits 5.2 million sales, still a secret yet to find, says Notchhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/03/08/minecraft-hits-5-2-million-sales-still-a-secret-yet-to-find-says-notch/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/08/minecraft-hits-5-2-million-sales-still-a-secret-yet-to-find-says-notch/#commentsThu, 08 Mar 2012 10:20:02 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=240645Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has confirmed that Minecraft has now sold 5.2 million units since it first went into a public alpha state in 2009.

But speaking at a GDC interview session, conducted by SpyParty developer Chris Hecker, the Mojang co-founder spilled that there’s still one secret left in the game that has eluded even hardcore players.

He also explained why there was no female character model in the game.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/08/minecraft-hits-5-2-million-sales-still-a-secret-yet-to-find-says-notch/feed/2Notch to receive BAFTA Special Awardhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/03/05/notch-to-receive-bafta-special-award/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/05/notch-to-receive-bafta-special-award/#commentsMon, 05 Mar 2012 09:25:19 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=239289BAFTA’s announced it’s to reward the Special Award to Mojang’s Markus ‘Notch’ Persson at the BAFTA Video Game Awards next week.

The Minecraft creator is being given the reward for his work on the game and his contribution to the development community.

“I’ve always considered the BAFTA Awards to be one of the most prestigious awards one can receive, and I was very happy when it expanded to cover video games in 1998,” said Persson.

“When I first heard that I would receive a BAFTA Special Award, I was blown away and deeply humbled. Going to London to accept this award is going to be a very positive and interesting experience that I’m very much looking forward to.”

BAFTA Video Games Committee chairman Ray Maguire added: “Markus is an inspiration for all games developers and this Award reflects the determination and innovation that he continues to show to both the developer community and to gamers worldwide.

“We are thrilled that he will accept this Award and are excited to see what new developments he will introduce to the industry in years to come.”

Persson launched Minecraft in an alpha stage in May 2009, before getting a full release last November.

In that time, he’s also co-founded Mojang, which is currently developing Scrolls for a release this year. It moved into the publishing business last year with the release of Cobalt.

Minecraft creator Notch said in a tweet aimed at Schafer: “Let’s make Psychonauts 2 happen.”

He further made clear his standing on the matter by telling Rock, Paper, Shotgun in a further tweet he was “serious” in doing a deal with Double Fine. Schafer is yet to comment on the offer.

Persson’s offer came as comments from Schafer came to light this morning from a Digital Spy interview, where he said he had pitched the sequel to publishers “several times” without success.

The original Psychonauts launched back in 2005 to massive critical acclaim and a big fan following, but low sales.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/07/notch-to-schafer-lets-make-psychonauts-2-happen/feed/24GDC 2012: SWTOR postmortem and Notch Q&A announcedhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/02/01/gdc-2012-swtor-postmortem-and-notch-qa-announced/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/01/gdc-2012-swtor-postmortem-and-notch-qa-announced/#commentsWed, 01 Feb 2012 20:47:06 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=230604GDC organizers have announced a Star Wars: The Old Republic postmortem as well as a Q&A featuring Markus “Notch” Persson as part of the lineup for the show’s Main Conference.

In the Game Design track, Persson will participate in a Q&A titled “A Fireside Chat with Markus ‘Notch’ Persson.” Hosted by Maxis veteran Chris Hecker, the “chat” will feature Persson discussing Minecraft, indie designs, and more, Question for the session will be solicited via Twitter through the official GDC Twitter feed. Be sure to follow it if you have a question to submit.

Over on the production side of things, BioWare Austin’s Richard Vogel and Dallas Dickinson will hold a postmortem session on Star Wars: The Old Republic called: “SWTOR – Creating A True Competitor in the AAA MMO Space”. Internal strategies used to prepare the game for launch will be the focus.

For more details of what to expect out of GDC 2012, visit our event hub.

It’s not really surprising then, that when a fan commented that he loved the game but couldn’t afford a copy for himself, the creator suggested that he “just pirate it“. Almost as an afterthought, “don’t forget to feel bad.”

Twitter, predictably, exploded. Marcus, predictably, shrugged: “These have been my views on piracy FOREVER,” he says, observing that “There are enough honest people out there who can afford the game. I’ll just focus on them.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/01/13/quick-quotes-notchs-opinions-on-piracy/feed/6How Minecraft re-shaped the gaming industryhttp://www.vg247.com/2011/11/18/building-a-revolution-how-minecraft-re-shaped-the-gaming-industry/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/11/18/building-a-revolution-how-minecraft-re-shaped-the-gaming-industry/#commentsFri, 18 Nov 2011 12:11:49 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=216603Ahead of the full game’s release today, Nathan Grayson takes look at how Minecraft changed the games industry whilst still in its infancy, and how it will further continue to revolutionise it in the future.

Minecraft

First started public Alpha testing back in May 2009.

It then went beta in December 2010

Full version launches today after two-and-a-half years of work.

An Xbox 360 version is due in 2012, with iOS and Android versions already out.

Mojang’s next game is Scrolls, something it says will go down the Minecraft development route.

The scene: GDC 2011. Notch barely said two words. No big speech. He just snatched his award and walked off the spotlight-illuminated stage. He was not, however, being a Hollywood-caliber asshole. His head hadn’t grown too large for his snazzy hat in the slightest. Rather, he’d already claimed so many awards that night that he simply ran out of things to say. It was almost comical by that point. “And the winner is… Minecraft. Again.”

Really, though, what else do you do with a game like Minecraft? It’s already very nearly a landmark in gaming history, so of course it won by a landslide. Here’s the crazy part, though: Minecraft made a tidal-wave-sized splash, but I don’t think we’ve even begun to see ensuing the ripples that’ll affect the gaming industry for years to come. You can’t well copy the idea of pixelated building blocks, after all. Then you’re just a “Minecraft clone.” And you can’t just copy the idea of Creepers, because then I will cry.

So, on this, the day of Minecraft’s official launch, let’s remember the game not for what it was, but what it will be.

In it for the long haul

Actually, that may well end up being the biggest thing Minecraft contributes to the gaming industry at large: the idea that it’s OK to ask people to spend money on an unfinished game. Yes, that’s right: That thing you complain about all the time? When Big Game X arrives in your living room in pieces with a set of instructions that reads “Umm, oops”? Yeah, Minecraft basically did that. And everybody was fine with it. Why?

Simple: Notch was upfront about it. He never claimed that his game was complete. It’s a beta. It’s far from finished. There will be problems. Since that first humble build, Minecraft has improved by leaps and bounds, and the fans have been along for the whole ride. Minecraft, then, exemplifies the idea that there’s no such thing as a “finished” game anymore. And believe it or not, that’s a good thing.

When you’re building the same game from the ground-up for years on end, it’s easy to lose perspective. A particular mechanic or idea devoured months of your life, after all. It has to be fun. Why wouldn’t it be? That’s where a constant stream of fan feedback comes in handy. It keeps developers honest. For better or worse, fans aren’t afraid to hop on the forums and caps-lock-vomit a 2000-word diatribe that essentially boils down to “This fucking sucks.”

Minecraft made a tidal-wave-sized splash, but I don’t think we’ve even begun to see ensuing the ripples that’ll affect the gaming industry for years to come.

Therein lies the potential of open development. Sure, some developers will abuse it, but – frankly – plenty already do, so why not fully embrace the positives as well as the negatives? Minecraft proudly bears that torch. Naysayers may think it’s going to burn down the whole house, but just wait a few years. In the age of MMOs, free-to-play, and constant connectedness, “finished” games are on their deathbed anyway. That antiquated expectation’s only putting a limit on how much games can improve. Fortunately, Minecraft has now laid down an excellent blueprint, and – more importantly – it’s shown that it works.

Play, create, share

When LittleBigPlanet was first announced, it was supposed to set the world on fire. (Not literally, of course – as incredible as adorable little Sackamajigs grinning wildly and saying, “The voice tells me to burn things” would be…) But it hasn’t. It’s seen decent success, yeah, but the number of gamers who love to destroy still far outweighs the contingent that looks to constantly create.

Part of that, I think, lies in the division between playstyles in games like LBP, Modnation Racers, and Microsoft’s Kodu. You create and then you play. Sure, the interfaces for creation are far more intuitive than, say, cracking a textbook and then cracking yourself right in the brain until – tah-dah! – you know how to code, but they’re not quite the game. That is to say, it’s still a means to an end. For many players, the appeal isn’t in painstakingly constructing some labyrinthine maze of hop and boppery. It’s about experiencing the finished products of the relatively small percentage of folks who do dig that stuff.

Enter Minecraft. In short, it filled in that abyssal canyon between playing and creating. The two are always one-in-the-same. While, say, LBP is a platformer/racer/puzzler/etc in which you can also create levels, Minecraft puts creation front-and-center. Of course, that may be changing with the arrival of dragons that sound like the end result of a night of passion between Skyrim and a bulldozer (don’t think about it), but there’s no doubting what gave the game its initial appeal.

Lol, PC gaming

No two ways about: Big-budget triple-A gaming on PC is in shambles. Pirates plunder everything that’s not bolted down, in a safe, and wired to explode if someone so much as thinks about plucking a cookie from the cookie jar, and many publishers aren’t even trying anymore. Inexplicable delays, glitch-ridden ports, infuriating interfaces, obnoxious DRM – the writing’s on the wall.

A couple years ago, I would have told you that PC was circling the drain as a gaming platform. It wasn’t “dead” – as many people like to say – but the future certainly wasn’t looking too bright. PC needed something. Anything. Its old identity as hottest hotrod on the block wasn’t cutting it anymore. The PC gaming master race was in danger of ending up in one of those overly sentimental wildlife preserve commercials.

Minecraft, in part, helped provide PC with a renewed sense of identity. Granted, it definitely didn’t do it single-handedly. Hundreds – maybe even thousands – of other indies shouldered their own portion of the weight. But those games were the arms, legs, and sexy, sexy clavicles. Minecraft was the face. It forced people to pay attention. It carried the widespread appeal needed to validate the indie movement not only in the eyes of hardcore PC fanatics, but with people who barely touched games at all.

Minecraft, in part, helped provide PC with a renewed sense of identity. It forced people to pay attention.

The PC scene and the indie scene, of course, are not intrinsically linked. There is, however, tons of overlap, and both sides had a new success story to rally behind in Minecraft. Did it overshadow a few other equally deserving indies? Probably. But in the long run, that level of explosure will prove more gift and less curse.

And odds are, Minecraft will be there to see the day when it does. Sure, Mojang’s just about to rip off the “beta” Band-Aid and reveal a tattoo that says “Done! And also dragons for some reason,” but it’s not even close to stopping. As Notch himself put it: “It’s a bit tricky to really do a release for Minecraft as we keep updating it all the time… We’ll keep adding features after the release as well, so it’s really more of a milestone when we finally get rid of the Beta label, and some kind of goal for us to work towards.”

Where will it end up? Who knows? But winning a truckload of awards and revolutionizing the gaming industry as we know it before officially launching, I’d say, is a pretty decent place to start.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/11/18/building-a-revolution-how-minecraft-re-shaped-the-gaming-industry/feed/12Dragons are invading Minecrafthttp://www.vg247.com/2011/10/07/dragons-are-invading-minecraft/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/10/07/dragons-are-invading-minecraft/#commentsFri, 07 Oct 2011 17:05:06 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=207805Dragons are coming to Minecraft, and Notch has posted some shots of the creatures through here, pics. As G4 noted, textures for the critters haven’t been implemented yet, but you get the idea of what they will look like plain enough. Enjoy.
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